IntelliJ IDEA 2016.3 Help

Plugins

Basics

Plugins are extensions to IntelliJ IDEA core functionality.
They provide the IDE integration with version control systems (VCS) and application servers,
add support for various development technologies, frameworks and programming languages, and so on.

The more plugins are installed and enabled, the more features you have available.
On the other hand, disabling unnecessary plugins may increase the IDE performance,
especially on "less powerful" computers.

You can set up your own, enterprise plugin repositories, for example, to store plugins
that you want to reserve for your company's internal use only.
(A plugin repository corresponds to one or more Web servers.)

Plugin development

IntelliJ IDEA provides an open API that enables you to extend the IntelliJ IDEA functionality:
add new intention actions,
code inspections and refactorings,
facilities for integrating the IDE with various external systems, and more.